Comments on: Walt Disney Concert Hall–so wrong or just right?

By: Jodi

Jodi — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:08:25 +0000

Personally, I’m a fan of Disney Concert Hall. I got to go on a private photo tour a few months ago and that was fabulous! I can’t say my photos are that great, but I had a great time.

By: Matt Mason

Matt Mason — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:53:53 +0000

I agree with Oren. I’m crazy about the Disney, and think that Gehry’s coming along in the late 20th century with a design (along with his Guggenheim Bilbao) that is so (literally) out of the box is genius. However, I never think of the Disney as part of its surroundings, so if that was a goal, I don’t think that goal has been met. Hopefully it will be so integrated in the future, as Oren says.

BTW, I dated a woman who lived on the street in Santa Monica where Gehry built his first house for himself. I think the house is in the Pollack documentary. We didn’t know it was a Gehry. We only knew that there was this crazy house that looked like it was thrown together from Home Depot parts, including corrugated metal and chain link fence. We both thought the house was hideous. I guess you have to start somewhere.

By: Oren

Oren — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:38:08 +0000

I love, love, love Disney Hall. But I think it does a terrible job of relating to its surroundings or creating any kind of public space around it. It’s a place for people to drive to from somewhere else, not to experience as part of a larger neighborhood. Hopefully that will change as Grand Ave. develops, but I doubt it.

By: JC

JC — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:14:40 +0000

I love the historic buildings Downtown. But let the new be new. If you start off making them seem like the old, they’ll be forgotten before they become historic.

Disney Hall is…interesting from afar (it’s alright but I don’t have a preference for that wackadoo style of architecture). But up close it’s pretty awesome – great for photography.

By: Travis Koplow

Travis Koplow — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:38:19 +0000

That’s certainly what I tell myself all the time!

By: lucindamichele

lucindamichele — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:30:38 +0000

I too am a fan of the polyglot nature of LA. And I love having the Concert Hall down there like an out-of-place high-desert cactus flower, unfurling its prickly blossom to capture water from the sky. I hear lots of people say how ugly it is, but just because something is different or “out of place” doesn’t make it ugly.